explanation

I might have seen the cutest thing evvvvver yesterday. A first grade boy did his rendition of LMFAO’s I’m Sexy And I Know It complete with dance moves. Only his version was

“I’m Elmo and I Know It!

Tickle Tickle Tickle Tickle Tickle Tickle”

Cutest thing ever. I wish you had been there. It would have made you smile all day long.

It’s fun to watch the innocence of kids. Their biggest concern yesterday was whether or not recess would be rained out.

Remember when those were our biggest worries?

Yesterday I asked you if you thought more money could lead to increased happiness? There were some great opinions on that post. I want to give you my explanation for why I think more money could lead to increased happiness in my life.

I don’t think money directly equals happiness but I know that the things that would make me happier cost money. My number one example and the thing I think about almost every minute of every day is: I want a baby.

And more money would make fertility treatments easier (financially) or the possibility of adopting easier. That is how I think. Am I happy right now? Yes and no.

Yes because I have so much to be thankful for in my life. I have a husband who adores me, a career path I love, a house, and friends and family who love me. I have a good life. So I am happy.

But.

I want to be a mom. And I truly believe that money would make that easier for me and Keith.

So in my mind more money would equal greater happiness for me.

I also think that my answer to this question can and has changed as my life has changed. So this is how I feel today. I may not feel this way in 10 years and I may not have felt this way 10 years ago. But today I view having more money as a way to help me achieve parenthood which would in turn make me happy.

If you had the money what would you use it on today that would make you happy?

You know, it’s funny– one of the things I think about really often (especially now with Lila almost here) is how much happier I’d be if we were living in Louisiana. We’re much closer, but still 9 hours or two plane rides away, and that really limits the amount of time we spend there. And there’s no amount of $$$ that we could pay to be there (although I suppose if we won the lottery, we could both give up teaching :-))– we just have to keep waiting every year to see if a job opens up in Ryan’s field of teaching. It’s ultimately really frustrating– we have the MONEY, but it can’t buy us what would make us (me especially) happy– a job at a Louisiana college.

Working less. If we made more, I could reduce my percentage at work. Instead of increasing like I just did. Sigh. But I know the changes we made for Brent’s job will make that happen…eventually. He actually has had a really awesome month so far, so I keep thinking it might not be that much longer!! 🙂

I completely agree with this. It’s not that you need more money for material things, you need money to help make the struggles much more palpable. If I had the money, I’d clear off all my debts: the credit card I have, the student loans, my car loan. Then, I’d feel like I was actually working for MYSELF and could use the cash for experiences, like a surf camp in Costa Rica, a vacation in Barcelona. 🙂

Hmmm – I would use the money to pay off our house and car, so we’d have some freedom from those bills. I’d also book a few family vacations – skiing, the beach, a cruise.

My little ones got a hold of my iPod and started singing I’m Sexy And I Know It. I’ve tried to get them to say ‘I’m silly and I know it,” but I have a fear that my 3 year old is going to bust out with ‘sexy’ and I’ll get a talking too from his preschool teachers…